Glassheart
Glassheart is the upcoming third studio album by British singer-songwriterLeona Lewis. The album is scheduled for release from 12 October 2012 bySyco Music. It is Lewis's first release in partnership with RCA Recordsfollowing a restructure at Sony Music Entertainment, leading to the closure of J Records. Glassheart was conceived in 2010 follow Lewis's first headline tour: The Labyrinth. The album was originally scheduled for release in November 2011 but was rescheduled several times throughout 2012 to accommodate further recording sessions and more creative time for the project. On the album, Lewis is reunited with Ryan Tedder, producer of previous singles "Bleeding Love" (2007) and "Happy" (2009). Lewis also worked with new producers including Naughty Boy, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins andDallas Austin amongst others. "Collide", a collaboration with house musicDJ Avicii, was released on 2 September 2011 as the album's first single. It would go on to become a top-five hit in the UK and Lewis's first single to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. To bridge the gap between Lewis's last album Echo (2009) and Glassheart, Lewis teamed with Fraser T. Smith to release Hurt: The EP. Following its positive reception, Smith was hired as Glassheart's executive producer, and has credits on many of the album's songs. Scottish singer-songwriterEmeli Sandé aided Lewis to write the second single "Trouble", a dark song inspired by Lewis' break-up with childhood sweetheart Lou Al-Chamaa. "Trouble" features US rapper Childish Gambino and will be radio premiered on 21 August 2012, ahead of its digital release on 5 October 2012. Background Lewis began working on her third album Glassheart shortly after completing her first headline tour, The Labyrinth tour.[2]The album was due to be released in November 2011 after the release of the first single, "Collide".[3] However, in September 2011, Lewis posted a message on her official Facebook page writing that the album will no longer come out in 2011 as planned, explaining that she was "inspired" to continue making new music and therefore she is personally pushing back the album to early 2012 instead.[4] That same month, it was announced that the album was expected to be released on 26 March 2012.[5] On late October 2011, an interview on Clive Davis on CBS Sunday Morning, a snippet of “Burn” was used during the interview while discussing about Lewis. In December 2011, Lewis released Hurt: The EP, a collection of cover songs to bridge the gap between Echo (2009) and Glassheart (2012). On 1 January Lovebirds, a song recorded for the album was leaked. “Lovebirds” was written by singer-songwriter Bonnie Mckee who also wrote forKaty Perry and Britney Spears. In January 2012, the album was pushed back again, this time to November 2012, following announcements that Lewis had worked on a track with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris and Fraser T. Smith was producing for the album.[6] In April 2012, in an interview at the Ariella Couture fashion show, Lewis stated: "I’m now planning to have the album out in the summer 2012. Simon Cowell has heard some of the tracks and he loves it”.[7]Following a headline performance at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, Lewis announced that the album's new released date is October 2012.[8] Recording Amongst the first people to work with Lewis was her frequent collaborator Ryan Tedder who penned and produced multiple songs both on Spirit (2007) and Echo (2009). The album is named after a song that she wrote and co-produced with Tedder. Speaking of the song during an interview with Digital Spy, Lewis said of the song, "I remember, when I was a little bit down. I went to Denver to hang out with Ryan Tedder - to see him and his family - and see if we could come up with something nice. I remember just not wanting to sing a ballad or anything that would make me more sad. I was like, 'Can you give me a song where I can just dance and jump around?', and he was like, 'What about this?' - he played this beat and it was really hypnotic. So I was like, 'Yes! We have to do this'."[9] Lewis also worked with fellow British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé on two tracks for the album. The first, titled "Mountains" was written by Sandé, Shahid Khan, James Murray, Mustafa Omer, Luke Juby and Sandé.[10] The piano and strings-leg ballad was supposed to feature on Glassheart however for reasons unknown the song was reclaimed by Sandé and features on her debut album Our Version of Events (2012).[11][12] A small unfinished demo of Lewis' version of "Mountains" leaked online on 15 August 2012.[11] The second song "Trouble" was inspired by Lewis's recent break-up with childhood sweetheart Lou Al-Chamaa. Lyrics co-written by Lewis include the lines "I told you never to get used to me, I stay awake while you fall asleep. I'm a whole lot of trouble, we're in a whole lot of trouble. You shout louder than you used to, and you hold on tighter in the bedroom."[13] The song features a guest vocal from US rapper Childish Gambino and was released as the album's second single.[14] According to Yahoo! music, Lewis also worked with Ammo and Steve Robson.[15] Other media sources reveal that Lewis spent time in the studio with Rico Love,[13] Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins", will.i.am,Polow da Don[16] and according to MTV, R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo.[17] The latter has previously worked with Lewis on Spirt and produced tracks for Echo which didn't make the final track listing.[2] Lewis's sessions with Darkchild took place over the weekend of 18-19th May.[16] Lewis also travelled to Nashville Tennessee to record music for a week in January, and separately worked with Dallas Austin.[18][19] At the end of 2011, Lewis spoke about another of her collaborators - this time Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, "I've worked with Calvin on a song and want to do another – he's so talented. I'm planning an EP before the end of the year as I feel bad for everyone who was expecting the album this year. But the lead song won't be the track I've done with Emeli Sandé – that's for the album [Glassheart]."[20] Lewis released Hurt: The EP in December 2011 to appease fans who were waiting Glassheart. The EP consisted ofcover songs which had been re-tooled by Fraser T. Smith. During the middle of March, Lewis posted a picture of herself in the studio with Jahlil Beats and Smith, confirming that Smith was now producing material for Glassheart.[21] Later following Lewis's performance at the Radio 1 Hackney Weekend in June, it was confirmed that Smith was overseeing the production for the remainder of the album and had been hired as the project's executive producer.[22] Smith elaborated that the album was 80% complete We’ve got the key tracks and we’re very close. She’s done some fantastic vocals and is making a very relevant record...is a very important record for her. The songs are really strong".[8] Just a month later in July, Smith confirmed the album was 97% complete, with "turned up raw emotions" and a "classic sound".[23] Artwork and photo shoot Lewis worked with photographer Guy Aroch for the album photoshoot, in a vintage apartment. Lewis described it as being "all kind of indoors".[24] On the cover of Glassheart, Lewis is stood in front of a brick wall wearing a red dress adorned with black sequins. She has two star-like beauty marks beneath her eyes while her right hand holds her hair up to her neck.[15] Composition Influence and sound In February 2011, Lewis said about the album will be more experimental compared to previous records Spirit and Echo, embodying a "different" yet "classic" sound. She added, "I’m really, really excited about it. I’m working with some new producers, some up and coming people and it’s going to be kind of a different sound – but still classic".[25] Lewis suggested the album would be "a bit different from what people have heard" from her before, adding that she planned to "go in and create and just see what happens".[26] Lewis later described the album as "more progressive", "more electric", "more uptempo" and "a bit darker".[27] Reports suggested that the album had taken a dubstep direction, with songwriters asked to submit dance songs and no ballads.[28] Lewis explained that she wanted to make an album that is timeless.[29] In June 2011, when asked about the upcoming album, Lewis described it as "energetic, deep, and unique". She also commented that it would have a darker tone and that she would be putting her "heart into her lyrics". She cited Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and Tears for Fears as the album's primary influences.[30] Lewis spoke on the sound of the album saying "Well, when I was on tour, we mixed a lot of dancer beats on it - my cousin actually reproduced a lot of the ballads. I've taken more of that sound into the album; we've got a lot of piano and live instrumentation. I've a song called 'Fireflies' which I really, really love and hope we get to do as a single. it's a really good one. And it's got a guy on it!" She explained "So the album is such a eclectic mix. I've really got to delve into every kind of music that I love, really try everything and make the best of everything. Because I love so many different genres, it's kind of hard to just pick one thing to do, so I just did everything!"[31] In a interview with Digital Spy Lewis spoke on the direction of some of the tracks on the album saying "I've got a track that's got a bit of drum 'n' bass at the end. It's quite different to what I've had out before." Lewis then went on to add "I've got a track that's very '90s. It's just different influences that I've had through my life growing up. I'm really actually looking forward to people hearing it."[32] During a uStream chat with fans, Lewis announced she would be rapping on the album after "discovering a voice for rap", comparing her London MC style to American hip-hop rapper/singer Nicki Minaj.[33] Songs and lyrics Sylvia Patterson of The Guardian previewed several tracks from the album. She described "Sugar" as a "big orchestral landscape", "Blank Page" as "a soaring reverie over mournful piano and strings" and "Trouble" as "very London".[34]"Trouble" was intended to be released as the second single from Glassheart.[31] On 1 January 2012 "Love Birds" leaked online. The track was co-written by Bonnie McKee.[35] In June 2012, following her performance of the song "Come Alive" at Radio 1's Big Weekend, Lewis was asked if "Come Alive" was a good indication of the rest of the album. She replied, "It's definitely a piece of it, but there's much more quiet-sounding instrumentals. The album is a good mixture of programmed synths and live music".[8][36] Promotion Marketing On July 23, 2012 Lewis released her first video on the lead up to the release of the album saying “In the lead-up to my album, I wanted to make some video blogs and share with you my journey (!) and everything that goes on, from the video I’m doing very soon, to going on the road doing shows.” “Every week I’m going to be doing a little video blog and this is the first one.”[37] Live performances On 3 September 2011 Lewis performed "Collide" for the first time on the first episode of Simon Cowell's new gameshow''Red or Black?. She then performed the song along with the album's title song "Glassheart" at London's G-A-Ynightclub.[38] Lewis will performing at BBC Radio One's Hackney Weekend in her hometown of London in June 2012, where she stated she would premiere new material from ''Glassheart.[39] Lewis chose to unveil "Come Alive", a new song written with Ina Wroldsen and co-written and produced by Fraser T. Smith.[40] Singles The album's first single a collaboration with house music DJAvicii, titled "Collide". The dance-pop song, written by Autumn Rowe and produced by Sandy Vee, had its first UK radio play on''The Scott Mills Show'' on BBC Radio 1 on 15 July 2011. It was released in the UK on 4 September 2011.[41][42] The single courted controversy after it was claimed to have plagiarised Swedish musician Avicii's 2010 song "Penguin".[43] Berg took the case to the British High Court where it was resolved by the single being released as a collaboration with both artists.[44][45] In the issue of Billboard magazine dated 9 August 2011, "Collide" became the "Hot Shot Debut" on the US''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Songs, debuting at number 32, three weeks before its official release date.[46] In its seventh week the song topped the chart, becoming Lewis' first number one on the chart. On 9 September, "Collide" debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number three. The song also managed to reach number 4 in the UK and Scotland, number 13 in Belgium, and number 29 Austria.[47] In an interview in September 2011, Lewis said: "I think 'Trouble' will be the second single." Speaking about the single's sound and composition Lewis said "It's got an element of Massive Attack in it. A bit of trip-hop, a bit of flavor - I've just never heard anything like it, which is why I was like, 'This is very cool".[48] After the album's delays the status of the single was unknown, however in June 2012, Lewis confirmed that "Trouble", co-written by Emeli Sandé, would still be the second single from Glassheart.[49] It was later announced that "Trouble" features American rapper Childish Gambino.[50]It is due for release in Ireland on 5 October 2012, and will be released simultaniously around the world on 7 October 2012 after Sony Music has made the single a global priority.[14][51] "Trouble" will premiere on 21 August 2012.[52] Recorded tracks *"Burn" (Brent Kutzle, Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella)[53][54] *"Collide" (Tim Berg, Simon Jeffes, Arash Pournouri, Autumn Rowe, Sandy Wilhelm) *"Come Alive" (Leona Lewis, Fraser T Smith, Ina Wroldsen)[30] *"Fireflies"[34][31] *"Glassheart" (Leona Lewis, Brent Kutzle, Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella)[55][56] *"I To You"[1] *"Lovebird"[35] *"Open Up" (Brian Kennedy)[57] *"Perfectly You"[1] *"Trouble" (featuring Childish Gambino) (Hugo Chegwin, Harry Craze, Leona Lewis, Shahid Khan, Emeli Sandé, Fraser T. Smith)[58] *"Sugar"[34] *"Unlove Me"[59] Category:Albums